Car service provider Pitstop refuels with Series A funding round

Chatpay Commerce, the parent company of omnichannel automobile servicing platform Pitstop, has raised $2.5 million in a Series A round of funding led by TPG Growth-backed Group Landmark.

“We will be using these funds to expand our garage and doorstep service network and build an integrated retail supply chain network for the spares business,” Mihir Mohan, founder and CEO at Pitstop said in a statement on Monday.

Some undisclosed existing investors also participated in the round, the statement added.

The doorstep car service plans to expand its presence to 15 cities by the end of 2020 and onboard over 1,000 garages and 1,500 doorstep service team vans by the end of 2021. It claims to currently have over one lakh customers across nine cities.

The Bengaluru-based startup had last raised $1.6 million of seed investment from Blume Ventures and Singapore-based Goldbell Group in 2018. In the same year, it had acquired MotorWhiz, a mobile platform for car service and repair jobs, in a cash-and-stock deal.

With the new capital infusion, it has so far raised about $5.42 million.

“The technology developments and the first of its kind artificial intelligence-driven real-time car/repair order tracking status definitely establish Pitstop’s expertise to own the car service and maintenance vertical... With about 200 garages on-boarded on this model, we want to fuel Pitstop’s growth to be the market leader in the space in India with an eye at establishing footprints in Singapore, Vietnam, and other South-east Asian countries,” the statement quoted the lead investor as saying.

Ahmedabad-based automobile dealership chain Group Landmark operates more than 80 facilities across 27 cities in India. 

Funding activity in the online-based automobile servicing startups space across India, albeit sporadic, has seen sizable interests and cheques being drawn from marquee investor houses.

In December, Targetone Innovations-owned automobile servicing platform GoMechanic raised $14.7 million in a Series B investment round led by venture capital firms Chiratae Ventures and Sequoia Capital. Orios Venture Partners had also participated in the round.

In November, vehicle maintenance solutions provider FirstU raised an undisclosed amount in a seed funding round from venture capital firm India Quotient, startup accelerator FirstCheque, and angel investors including Farooq Adam, co-founder at e-commerce site Fynd.

Another startup in the sector includes Bengaluru-based CleanseCar Washing and Repair Services. In October, it raised $2 million in seed funding from a group of angel investors and family offices. In June, it had acquired Carnanny, a subscription-based daily car wash and car care service provider in an all-stock deal.